Every day is a do-over

The other day a my best friend was walking around downtown Toronto very early in the morning and sent me a text saying he loved being out that early. He told me there was something about the stillness, the empty streets that weren’t normally empty, and the few people walking around who all had a bit of an extra bounce in their step, the ‘go-getters’. He said:

Everybody’s on a do-over in the morning

It’s been sticking with me ever since. Everybody’s on a do-over in the morning. I’m not sure why. Everybody’s on a do-over. It’s not anything new. I mean really:

Every day is a new day.

Today is a new beginning.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow, you’re only a day away…

But there’s something that text that’s been playing over and over again in my head. I don’t know what it was that made it stick so much more than the old platitudes I’ve heard over and over.

Maybe it was as simple as hearing it said in a different way. Sometimes things like that make all the difference. But all of a sudden I could picture it. All these people having a do-over. Their head a held just a bit higher, their gait just a tinsy bit different, moving forward into the new day.

The character Anne Shirley, in L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, said “Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”

How many of us carry our mistakes over?

Anne’s sentiment is so lovely, but really, how many of us let our mistakes go? I know I have a tendency to fret about the mistakes I’ve made. I’ve been called an overthinker, and it’s true.

So, how do I remember that mistakes are learning tools, and once they are done, they are done? How do I commit to ‘make better mistakes tomorrow’? I don’t actually have an answer to this. This is an actual question folks. One of the times when comments on the internet telling a person what to do will be welcome, instead of eye-roll inducing.

Perhaps part of it is simply being mindful of it. Taking a step back and actively leaving the day behind. Maybe for me it will be about a touch of meditation before bed or in the morning. So, I guess I’m calling out Mindful with a capital M.

The question is, can I incorporate that Mindfulness? I am a huge believer in Mindfulness and it’s gazillion benefits, I think it’s been a bit miraculous for my son, but man-oh-man, do I ever have a hard time implementing it in my own life. But that’s another post for another day.

I’m ready for a do-over

What I’m trying to say here is, I’m ready for my new days to be do-overs. Maybe one of the 800 million Medium articles on what I should be doing with my morning routines and what I should have accomplished before 8am will make me feel like I have a do-over.